The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in the present disclosure and are not admitted to be prior art by the inclusion in this section.
Wireless communication systems experience increasingly heavier loads with the widespread adoption of smartphones, tablets, mobile hotspots and the like. Device-to-device (“D2D”) communication may improve functionality and/or services available at a device by, for example, increasing bandwidth. D2D communication may allow a user equipment (“UE”) to communicate directly with a second UE through a direct local link that circumvents an evolved Node B (“eNB”) or other base station. Often, two UEs that are to engage in D2D communications may be relatively proximate to one another, allowing for increased data transfer (e.g., high bit rates) that corresponds to decreased power consumption.
To engage in D2D communication, synchronization must be performed across the participating UEs. Synchronization may ensure that one or more UEs participating in a network, such as a radio network, operate according to parameters defined by an appropriate standard (e.g., the 3rd Generation Partners Project standard). For example, using a reference signal, a UE may acquire timing so that operations related to discovery, paging, data exchange, and the like may be performed.